Foundation garment



March 14, 1944. H. J. DUBNER.

FOUNDATION GARMENT Filed June 25. 1943 My gwon.

Patented Mar. 14, 1944 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE v FOUNDATION GARMENTHarry Jay Dubner, Forest Hills, N. Y.

Application June 25, 1943, Serial No. 492,201

7 Claims.

This invention relates to foundation garments and the like.

One object of the invention is to provide a gar- -ment or deviceespecially adapted for women having small busts to give them propersupport and shaping for the bust.

I have observed that while many styles and constructions of brassieresand the like are known, none is well adapted to suit the needs of awoman having a very small bust, and the solution is not to be found inmerely reducing the size of the bust receiving pockets, because thepersonality of the individual must be considered. The fitting of thebrassire pockets to the small bust is best attained if adjustability isprovided, because the small bust lacks the flexibility necessary withbrassires made merely to standard sizes.

To my knowledge, the best attempt at a solution of the problem is thatdisclosed in my Patent No. 2,313,811 issued March 16, 1943, but this Wasrather expensive to make, lacked the conventional appearance, and causedupward and lateral pressure or confining action on the bust only throughthe medium of the pocket wall, with consequent excessive distortion andwrinkling of the pocket wall. Hence the brassiere often looked crumpledup, and caused discomfort to the delioate tissues of the bust.

Other devices have been used to cause lateral and downward or upwardpressure to cause the bust to wholly fill the pocket, but'these aresatisfactory only with larger busts and would cause discomfort withsmall busts by reason of the buckles or other devices employed, anddetract from the desired appearance because of excessive wrinklesproduced. Even if means are em ployed to shape the pocket to the bust,the result is practical only with relatively large busts, if excessivedistortion, wrinkling andungainly effects are to be avoided.

With the present invention, a plurality of well shaped pockets are used,of any desired form, and a plurality of adjustably tensioned bandsconverge downwardly within the pocket, the major portions of the saidbands being free to directly upwardly and laterally bear on the bust toconfine the lower part thereof with only a minor change in shape of thewalls, the bust being in contact with the walls as it overflows thebands. Therefore, the lower, halves of the pocket walls may be regardedas shields over the bands. Since a common adjusting device is providedfor individually adjusting the companion bands of each pocket from apoint external of the pocket, the

tendency to provide wrinkling or uneven bulging of the pocket wall isavoided, and adjustment can be efiected while the garment is worn in thenormal manner whereby a rather precise condition, appearance and eiiectis quickly obtained, with the contour lines of the pockets including thebottom portions thereof flowing onto the body of the wearer.

It is therefore an object of the invention to provide a foundationgarment having the advantages above mentioned.

Another object of the invention is the provision of a foundation garmenthaving improved means whereby the bust may be shaped and supported.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent asthe specification proceeds.

With the aforesaid objects in view, the invention consists in the novelcombinations and arrangements of parts hereinafter described in theirpreferred embodiments, pointed out in the subjoined claims, andillustrated on the annexed drawing, wherein like parts are designated bythe same reference characters throughout the several views.

In the drawing:

, Figure 1 is a view in front elevation showing a garment, such as abrassiere, embodying the invention, with parts removed.

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary like view loo-king at the inside thereof, with apair of bands released.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged view of a buckle used to adjust the bands.

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary greatly enlarged sectional view taken on line 44of Fig. 1.

Fig. .5 is a sectional view taken on line 55 of Fig. 2, showing thecentral band anchorage schematically.

The advantages of the invention as here outlined are best realized whenall of its features and instrumentalities are combined in one and thesame structure, but, useful devices may be produced embodying less thanthe whole.

' It will be obvious to those skilled in the art to which this inventionappertains, that the same may be incorporated in several differentconstructions. The accompanying drawing, therefore, is submitted merelyas showing the preferred exemplification of the invention.

Referring in detail to the drawing, Hl denotes any garment, forinstance, a brassiere, embodying the invention. The same may be madetoextend around the body to afford a front wall ll having a plurality ofbustv receiving pockets .12,

and supported as by shoulder straps I3. Without being limited thereto, aspecific structure may include a plurality of wall elements l4interconnected by a central panel [5, whereby seams I6 may be formed toconcave the wall elements l4.

ther such seams i! may provide additional concaving, and shaping, aswill be understood by those skilled in the art. Connected to the walls Mare the wings I8, the ends of which may be interconnected by fasteningmeans such as a hook l9, and one, of, a plurality of eyes 20, the latteron a band 2|. Elastic gussets may be arranged at 22, and an elasticinsert may be provided at 23. Suitable reenforcement strips may beprovided at various seams and edges, as shown in Fig. 2, for instance atthe top and bottom of. the brassiere at 24, at 28 where the panel I5 isconnected to the walls It; at 21 where the Wings [8 are connected to thewalls It; and also at 28 at the shaping seams l1,

Connected to. the pocket walls. I4 at the sides thereof are a pluralityof bands for each pocket. The pointsof connection at 30b,.3!lc aresubstantially midway between the top and bottom of the pocket, andadequate seourement is obtained with the aid of the seaming strips 26'and 21. As secured, the bands 3i! tend to lie. fiatwise within thepockets, and to thus downwardly converge to a central point at thebottom of each pocket. At this point, an opening 3.! is formed, with theseaming strips 28 affording a suitable-reenforcing or finishing for theopenings 31. Through each opening are passed a pair of the correspondingbands 30 to extend at the outside. or frontof the pocket. The endportions of the bands are engaged in a conventional friction buckle 32,which produces a rather fiat anchorage indicated as a whole at 33, withthe end portions 30a projecting in an ornamental manner. The anchorage33 or the buckle 32 are too large to pass through the hole 3!, and arefree and unsecured to the wall M, being merely caused to bear on saidwall by the tension of the bands 33. The arrangement is highly eifectivewhen the garment is worn and supported by the body of the wearer. Forlaundering, the buckles 32 are easily removed.

In use, the wearer operates the anchorage 33 to adjust the tension onthe bands 30 to suit her particular bust size and to. suit hercomfortand ideas of style and appearance. When she wears the garment theeffect is neat and decorative, as may be seen in Fig; 1; the anchorageis external and hence will not press on the bust; and the adjustment canbe made as fine as desired, while the garment is being worn. The.symmetry and form of, the, top edge of, the garment is undisturbed,andthere are nostraps to show through the bosom opening of the garment.

When properly tensioned, the bands 30 bear upwardly on the bust and havea lateral confining action thereon to urge the bust to fill into thecentral and upper region of the pockets. Being relatively wide, thebands will not cut into the bust. Since they are. largely free of. thewalls I4, the bands 30 follow their own paths and may be spaced awayfrom these walls as shown inFig. 5, due to the tension on the bands. Inother words, the bands form chords for the adjacent are shaped portionsof the pockets. Thus thebust can be shaped with very little or notnoticeable distortion of the pockets on a different sense, the lowerhalves of the pocket walls may be regarded as shields over the bands toconfine the flesh that tends to overlie. the bands and to support andshape the excess of fatty tissue thus created.

I claim:

1. A foundation garment having a pair of bust receiving pockets, eachpocket having its wall provided with an opening, downwardly convergentbands for each pocket connected at one end to said wall at the sideedges of the pocket in spaced relation to said opening, said bands lyingin the concavity of the pocket and extending through said opening to thefront or outer side of said wall, and. a single means at the outer sideof said wall for adjustably tensioning said bands, said means includinga member engaging the bands and being too large to pass through saidopening and thus abutting the wall to maintain the tension on the bandswhen the garment is in use, whereby the adjustment can be made while thegarment is snugly applied about the body of the-wearer.

2'. A foundation garment having bust receiving pockets, the wall foreach pocket having a hole, a plurality of band portions for each pocketconnected to the wall at the side edges of the pocket, in spacedrelation to said hole, said band portions lying within the. concavity ofthe pocket and extending through said hole to the front side of saidwall, and means, interengaging and individually adjustably tensioningsaid band portions to prevent accidental withdrawal of the band portionsfrom the hole, whereby the bands can be adjusted while the garment isworn in the normal manner.

3. A foundation garment according to claim 2 wherein said means includesa member too large to pass through said hole, and being thus in abutmentagainst said wall under the tension of the band portions.

4. A foundation garment having bust receiving pockets, a pair of bandswithin each pocket connected to the wall thereof at the sides of thepocket at points at least at the elevation of the center of the pocketand extending thence downwardly and toward each other, said wall havingan opening at the central, bottom portion of each pocket, the bandspassing through said opening to the outside of. the pocket, only asingle buckle interconnecting the bands and lying on the outside of thepocket and being too large to pass through said opening, said bandsbeing otherwise free of said wall so as to be capable of lying undertension in spaced relation to portions of said wall, said buckle havingmeans for slidingly adjustably tensioning, the bands and lying againstsaid wall to maintain the tension of the bands when the garment is inuse.

5. A foundation garment having a wall having bust receiving pockets, aplurality of bands for each pocket, the wall of each pocket having acentral opening at the bottom portion of the pocket, the bands beingrespectively connected to opposite sides of the pocket so that both liewithin the pocket and. converge downwardly tov pass outwardly throughsaid opening, said bands being adjustably tensioningly secured on. theoutside of. the pocket, the bands being otherwise free of the said wallso as to form chords for adjacent arcuate portions of the pocket to bethus adapted to, directly engage the bust to afford a bottom support anda lateral confining action to-urge the bust into the central and upperportions of the pocket.

6. A foundation garment according to claim 5 including a member of rigidmaterial larger than said opening for adjustably tensioning the bands,with the member being held against said wall by the tension of thebands.

7. A foundation garment having bust receiving pockets, a plurality ofbands for each pocket connected to the wall thereof at different sideedges of the pocket, common adjusting fastener means for slidablyadjustably interconnecting otherwise free end portions of the bands at apoint intermediate of their connections to said wall, said wall havingan opening therethrough remote from the points of connection with saidwall, so that the bands form an angle with each other and are free ofsaid wall at all points intermedi- HARRY JAY DUBNER.

